Shyster wrote:I walked up to the Allegheny County courthouse today to pick up my CCW permit renewal. Long, long line that snaked out into the central courtyard. The demographics were interesting. While the line was majority male, it was maybe only 60-40 men over women, and while the men in line were of all ages, the women in line skewed to being young, including at least three who looked to be college age. I would say most people in line were white, but African Americans were well represented. It was most certainly not just a bunch of old white guys.

Shyster wrote:I walked up to the Allegheny County courthouse today to pick up my CCW permit renewal. Long, long line that snaked out into the central courtyard. The demographics were interesting. While the line was majority male, it was maybe only 60-40 men over women, and while the men in line were of all ages, the women in line skewed to being young, including at least three who looked to be college age. I would say most people in line were white, but African Americans were well represented. It was most certainly not just a bunch of old white guys.

So pretty much a good cross section of the general society?

I would say it was pretty representative of the makeup of Allegheny County as a whole, except for the underrepresentation of women.

Snagged 6 boxes of "BrassMAXX" ammunition today at Walmart in .40 caliber. First time I have seen anything not hollow points. 170 grain brass fmj, $18 for 50 rounds with the wife's discount. Guess who's hitting the range this weekend

From what I’ve been able to tell, the gun shortage seems to be abating. For example, if you want a basic Bushmaster or Windham Weaponry AR, there are now plenty to be had. Heck, Gander Mountain also has Ruger SR-556s, SIGs, and ACRs, all at regular prices. But the ammo shortage unfortunately still seems to be going full steam ahead.

Shyster wrote:From what I’ve been able to tell, the gun shortage seems to be abating. For example, if you want a basic Bushmaster or Windham Weaponry AR, there are now plenty to be had. Heck, Gander Mountain also has Ruger SR-556s, SIGs, and ACRs, all at regular prices. But the ammo shortage unfortunately still seems to be going full steam ahead.

Shyster wrote:From what I’ve been able to tell, the gun shortage seems to be abating. For example, if you want a basic Bushmaster or Windham Weaponry AR, there are now plenty to be had. Heck, Gander Mountain also has Ruger SR-556s, SIGs, and ACRs, all at regular prices. But the ammo shortage unfortunately still seems to be going full steam ahead.

Been waiting for my Smith and Wesson AR-15 to arrive since January.

Are you waiting on one of the higher-end models? The ones I see in stock are generally the more basic “commodity” guns.

Shyster wrote:From what I’ve been able to tell, the gun shortage seems to be abating. For example, if you want a basic Bushmaster or Windham Weaponry AR, there are now plenty to be had. Heck, Gander Mountain also has Ruger SR-556s, SIGs, and ACRs, all at regular prices. But the ammo shortage unfortunately still seems to be going full steam ahead.

Been waiting for my Smith and Wesson AR-15 to arrive since January.

Are you waiting on one of the higher-end models? The ones I see in stock are generally the more basic “commodity” guns.

Yeah, had to have my dad order them because he's a statie and they're police issue only.

mac5155 wrote:There was a DPMS AR-15 at the same walmart I bought my Ammo at for $617, and another, that looked to be a colt maybe (?) for $846. I wasn't allowed to look too long...cause someone was with me

A very good friend of mine—who incidentally was using a brand-new $2,000 Benelli SuperSport shotgun when we went sporting-clays shooting for my brother's bachelor party—offers the following as the secret to a successful marriage: separate bank accounts.

mac5155 wrote:There was a DPMS AR-15 at the same walmart I bought my Ammo at for $617, and another, that looked to be a colt maybe (?) for $846. I wasn't allowed to look too long...cause someone was with me

A very good friend of mine—who incidentally was using a brand-new $2,000 Benelli SuperSport shotgun when we went sporting-clays shooting for my brother's bachelor party—offers the following as the secret to a successful marriage: separate bank accounts.

She's actually called me in the past telling me to come get the one that they have (she's a manager @ Walmart). I think she was just in a hurry, and knows I like to window shop. But I could be mistaken

Shyster wrote:A very good friend of mine—who incidentally was using a brand-new $2,000 Benelli SuperSport shotgun when we went sporting-clays shooting for my brother's bachelor party—offers the following as the secret to a successful marriage: separate bank accounts.

My then-fiancee and I had a shared checking account for the six months leading up to our wedding; made paying for vendors and such a whole lot easier. But by the time of our honeymoon (five months after the nuptials) we had closed the account.

I recently read an article on the magazine industry that said that most magazines are losing readership and circulation with the notable exception of gun magazines. The gun rags are seeing rapid circulation growth. It made me wonder: What gun rags do my follow LPG gun owners read? I get American Rifleman with my NRA membership, and I separately subscribe to American Handgunner, Guns & Ammo, and GUNS Magazine. I just recently subscribed to the latter.

As noted by the Huff Post in the link below, the new Field & Stream store that just opened in Cranberry is actually a sub-brand of Dick’s Sporting Goods. And what are on the shelves? Why, those evil “assault weapons” that Dick’s couldn’t drop fast enough after the Newtown shooting. I for one won’t be shopping at any of these new stores.

So you're strictly a books man when it comes to bathroom reading? :wink:

As noted by the Huff Post in the link below, the new Field & Stream store that just opened in Cranberry is actually a sub-brand of Dick’s Sporting Goods. And what are on the shelves? Why, those evil “assault weapons” that Dick’s couldn’t drop fast enough after the Newtown shooting. I for one won’t be shopping at any of these new stores.

Seriously came here with a question for those with more knowledge than I. What is a good quality and reasonably priced AR 15?? Also, are shows a better place to get a deal than shops??

I like the Palmeto State Armory AR's myself. If you want to spend a little more coin an upgrade to a spikes tactical would be good. It really all depends on what you plan on using it for. The AR platform is so versatile that you can do so many things with it, varmint control, long distance shooting (600 to 800 yards), hunting, range plinking, self defense and the list goes on and on.

If you do go the show route you can save money, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is not totally familiar with the product. You can get burned very easy at a show by a shady person.

Shyster wrote:I recently read an article on the magazine industry that said that most magazines are losing readership and circulation with the notable exception of gun magazines. The gun rags are seeing rapid circulation growth. It made me wonder: What gun rags do my follow LPG gun owners read? I get American Rifleman with my NRA membership, and I separately subscribe to American Handgunner, Guns & Ammo, and GUNS Magazine. I just recently subscribed to the latter.

I subscribe to the digital version of Recoil. I know it's the Maxim of gun periodicals. But I once subscribed to Maxim, too.

I've been a little leery of them because I know they're part of the Freedom Group, and I keep reading horror stories online from people claiming that the quality of Freedom Group companies (particularly Remington and Marlin) has gone into the crapper. There’s a whole forum out there, for example, on just how bad the new Marlins are, and based on some of the pictures people have posted (stocks that don’t even come close to fitting, sights installed crooked, chambers that were somehow rifled, guns shipped broken or with missing parts) it’s not all bluster. Maybe DMPS is operating more independently than the other members of the group.

tifosi77 wrote:I subscribe to the digital version of Recoil. I know it's the Maxim of gun periodicals. But I once subscribed to Maxim, too.

I've picked up a couple issues of Recoil, but I don't think I care too much for it. Haven't they already had a couple cases where they said something that ticked off a lot of people? I forget what they were.

I own a 10-shot S&W 617 revolver. A while back I picked up a Speed Beez (http://speed-beez.webstorepowered.com/) 617 speedloader and one of the accompanying loading blocks (the one that holds eight speedloaders’ worth of ammo). I had a chance to try it out this weekend. If you shoot a .22 revolver, these things are great. The speedloader works really well, and I found it faster and easier to place rounds in the loading block than in the revolver itself. Also, you can be loading the block during cease-fires and the like, or even load the block at home and bring it along in a case. Loading is as simple as pushing the loader down over the circle of ammo until the rounds snap into place, and then you line up the rounds in the cylinder and give a healthy push to seat them. The products are a little expensive, but the combo of a speedloader and loading block makes it much faster and easier to shoot a double-action .22 revolver. A full loading block is like having multiple spare loaded magazines. In addition to both 6- and 10-shot versions of the 617, they also make loaders and blocks for other .22 and.22 WMR S&W revolvers as well as Ruger and Taurus .22 and.22 WMR revolvers.

The only bad thing about the Speed Beez loaders is that they probably wouldn’t work for someone who is limited to a .22 or .22 WMR for concealed carry. The rounds are held in place solely by a spring than snaps over the rim of each cartridge, so they’re not held securely enough to, for example, drop the loader into a pocket or something like that. The cartridges would probably work loose.